Paolo Vitelli, the Italian entrepreneur who based Azimut Yachts and later created the Azimut-Benetti Group, died on December 31, 2024. He was 77 years outdated.
Vitelli was born on October 4, 1947 in Turin. Whereas nonetheless in faculty, the place he studied economics and commerce, he put a love of sailing and his coursework collectively. In 1969, at simply 21 years outdated, he established Azimut Yachts. Initially, it was a boat-rental enterprise. However, fast success noticed worldwide builders search out Azimut to promote their boats in Italy. Within the early Nineteen Seventies, Vitelli determined to change to boatbuilding, and in 1975 Azimut Yachts launched its personal undertaking. A sporty 43-meter (13-meter), the fiberglass boat led to additional related sequence and additional success. In reality, Azimut earned renown for pioneering the usage of fiberglass for yachts exceeding 98 toes (30 meters). Notably, the Failaka 105 sequence in 1982 marked the launch of the largest-ever composite yacht to that point. Excessive-profile yacht house owners starting from Aristotle Onassis to Nelson Rockefeller purchased hulls.
Across the identical time, a historic shipyard, Benetti, was constructing superyachts, too. Having opened its doorways in 1873, it accomplished the high-profile, 282-foot (86-meter) yacht Nabila in 1980. Belonging to Saudi businessman Adnan Khashoggi, Nabila was the most important—and arguably the most-discussed—personal yacht on this planet. She famously appeared within the James Bond movie By no means Say By no means Once more, too. Sadly, the household behind the Benetti shipyard encountered monetary troubles throughout the construct. Vitelli acquired the corporate in 1985, financially restructuring it and including fiberglass development to its specialties. The transfer paid off: The primary fiberglass Benetti, the Traditional 115 yacht sequence, noticed 100 gross sales from its introduction in 1988 by way of to 1998.
Vitelli additional embraced expertise confirmed in different sectors however new for yachting. Particularly, he was a giant believer in diesel-electric propulsion, and educated shoppers about it. Subsequently, Benetti constructed its first diesel-electric yacht, the 213-foot (65-meter) Ambrosia, in 2006. Moreover, Benetti created its personal R&D division, plus acquired a shipyard in Livorno, underneath Vitelli’s management. The Livorno web site is the place its headquarters are as we speak, developing quite a lot of tasks, together with the 353-foot (107.6-meter) “giga” yacht Luminosity. She noticed supply in 2020.
That very same 12 months, Vitelli’s daughter, Giovanna Vitelli, joined the Azimut-Benetti Group board of administrators. With a background in company legislation, she progressively took the reins over product growth. She succeeded her father because the chair of the Azimut-Benetti Group in 2023, a place she presently retains. Maybe not coincidentally, 2023 was the 12 months that the 2, together with CEO Marco Valle, celebrated Benetti’s 150 years of yacht-building historical past with workers and their households, together with suppliers, house owners, and Italian dignitaries.
Apart from his important contributions to yachting, Vitelli was a member of the Italian parliament from 2013 to 2015. Moreover, from 1974 to 2018, he was Honorary Consul of Norway.
At present the Azimut Benetti Group has 5 shipyards in Italy.
Azimut Yachts azimutyachts.com
Benetti benettiyachts.it
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